


Playlist

by ImpracticalMagic



Category: Digimon Adventure
Genre: Drama & Romance, F/M, Thriller
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-29
Updated: 2020-11-10
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:00:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27271576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImpracticalMagic/pseuds/ImpracticalMagic
Summary: TK set out after college hoping to get the life experience he needed to write his first novel, what he didn't expect was to be reintroduced to a girl from his past, and how it would completely change his story.
Relationships: Ishida Yamato | Matt Ishida/Takenouchi Sora, Takaishi Takeru | T.K. Takaishi/Yagami Hikari | Kari Kamiya
Kudos: 9





	1. Cue Music

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to Playlist
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own "The Minstrel's Prayer," by Cartel. I don't own Digimon

**Cue Music**

_"Shelter me oh genius words_

_Just give me strength_

_Just to pen these things_

_And give me peace to well her wings_

_And carry on, oh carry on_

_All you minstrels of the world_

_We will catch our ladies ear_

_We will win for us the girl"_

* * *

"I know you'll be getting on the plane about now so there wouldn't be any chance for you to turn back…She needed a place to stay…"

_Shit._

I slammed my laptop shut, closed my eyes, and leaned back into my seat. _Shit. Shit. Shit._

"You gonna be sick?"

I cracked my eyes open and looked to my right, a guy a few years older than me was awkwardly holding an airline sickness bag in my direction.

I put up my hand to polity wave him off, "I'm good."

_I'm screwed_ , I thought instead.

My name is T.K. Takaishi and my summer was not going to go as planned.

* * *

I'd recently graduated from Nihon University, I studied English and Journalism, and had a job lined up at the newspaper where my mother worked. Suddenly though, everything fell through, there were budget cuts and I no longer had the position she'd worked so hard to get for me.

I was ecstatic.

I didn't want it, a life so carefully planned for me, with no room for side stories. I tried to go for creative writing, but my mother thought it was a wasteful path, and she wouldn't help me pay for anything wasteful. So, I got my degree while sneaking in as many other writing classes as possible, hoping that eventually, I'd get to tell the stories I really wanted to.

Without a job, and no real motivation to look for one in the field I spent four years working towards, I struggled to figure out what I wanted to do with myself.

My brother, Matt, called me to catch up a few weeks after school ended and told me about the tour he was about to go on with his band, Astral Shade. They'ed been on a two-year hiatus, wanting to work on new music and take some time away from the road, but where finally ready to get back out there. I felt myself drifting off during our conversation, feeling jealous at the way he took risks, knowing he'd always land on his feet. I'd gone quiet, stopped responding with the normal noises of acknowledgment. He asked what was up, I proceeded to word vomit out everything I'd been holding in, my irritation at looking for a job in a field I wasn't passionate about, and my lack of a plan otherwise.

"What do you actually want to do?"

I paused, no one had bothered to ask me that in a long time. I told him I wanted to tell stories, and write fiction, but I needed some actual space and time to do that without being badgered about a forty to fifty hour a weekday job.

Then he gave me an offer I never expected. He told me to come with him on tour, that I could help out and essentially get a free trip across the country. I said, too quickly, that I couldn't do that, but he prodded. Why, what's holding me back, what's keeping me there?

Nothing. _Nothing was here anymore,_ I thought to myself.

"Just think about it," he told me before we ended the call. So, I did. I kept myself up all night, head spinning in circles, trying to talk myself out of it.

The next day when my mother got home from work, she started interrogating me about job prospects and telling me I needed a plan. It clicked then. I needed to get the hell out of here for a bit. I called my brother and told him I was in, and proceeded to argue with my mother about the fact that I was an adult now, and it was time to make my own choices. In the end, she gave me a half-hearted blessing, but I didn't care either way. It was time to do something for myself.

As I started planning for my trip I thought about the last time I'd seen my brother, about a year ago, and how good it would be to get some time together.

Our parents divorced when I was young so we didn't have a normal childhood together. When they separated, so did we, I went with my mother and he went with our dad. I think the divorce kept us closer than most siblings though. We rarely argued with each other because we didn't occupy the same space, and we were always just happy to be spending any time together at all. It wasn't worth it to get worked up about any random annoyances.

He could be aloof, and more sensitive than he would outwardly admit. You'd find him alone before you'd find him in a big group. I, on the other hand, had always been outgoing and overly friendly, up until the past few years there wasn't really an event I wouldn't go to. I started to see why he appreciated the solitude though.

As social as I'd been growing up, I'd become a bit of a hermit the last few years, much to the dismay of my friends. I didn't have an expansive social life in college. I played basketball, which took up most of the free time I had outside of work and studying. I was a good player, and probably could have taken it further, but I wasn't all that passionate about it. In my senior year, I helped coach more than play.

Now, I'd pretty much get thrown right in the thick of it. My brother was, by no means, a party type of guy, but I knew it kind of came with the territory. I knew he tended to go out quite a bit while on tour, but luckily he wouldn't be the only person I'd know, his girlfriend, Sora, would be coming as well.

She went to college in the States to be a fashion designer and was currently working on a portfolio so she could start applying for jobs. She'd proclaimed herself their stylist for the summer, quipping that, "They'd never make it big dressed like _budget normcore_ ," whatever that meant.

Regardless, I was happy she would be coming with us, I missed her almost as much as him. She'd been like family since we were kids when we met her at camp one summer. They started dating in high school and besides a few minor bumps along the way they ended being the most solid couple I knew.

I'd offered to help work on their social media pages for them, editing copy and such, since none of them were that great at it. That was what I expected to do when I opened up my e-mail, read the copy he'd sent, but instead, I received an atomic bomb.

_She needed a place to stay._ I thought over and over again, trying to figure out what the heck had happened in the three weeks since I'd said I would be coming.

I opened up my laptop and read the rest of the letter. I wanted to be angry with him but I couldn't bring myself to it. I mean, Matt was pretty level headed about things like this. He could be intense and argumentative, but to invite someone into his home wasn't some split-second decision. On top of that, he had always been extremely protective of me and would never want me in an uncomfortable situation, but I was still having a hard time processing what he was telling me and how or why it was even possible.

I hadn't seen or heard from her in over four years and now she was staying in my brother's spare room. There are approximately 8.5 million people that live in New York City, didn't she know anyone else? I knew she lived there, but I thought she was still dating Michael, so _why_ was she staying with my brother?

Kari Kamiya, was my best friend, then girlfriend, until she left without a word a few days after high school ended.

We originally met the same year my brother and I met Sora. Her brother, Tai, and my brother had become friends at camp and we initially bonded over being the youngest two. We became fast friends since our brothers spent a ton of time together, and we both wanted to spend just as much time with them, we were unintentionally paired off. I went to a different school until fifth grade so we only saw each other a few times a month. I transferred after my mom got a new job and after that, we started spending almost every single day together.

Everyone picked on us about dating, from an age that was probably too young to be suggestive, but we insisted we were only friends. Things started to change after our second year of high school. We started dating people and it always came down to this choice of them or us, they were threatened by our closeness, and neither one of us was willing to diminish the friendship for someone else. It wasn't until senior year that we finally realized there was more. We were only officially together for a few months, but since I'd known her for so long, it felt like we'd been together forever.

We made plans. We were going to go to the same college, move in together after two years, we talked about getting married after college ended. We were young and maybe that's just what you do when you are young, make lofty romantic plans without thinking through the reality of it all. Even though she was just as involved in making the plans as I was, maybe it's what eventually scared her off.

That was the last I saw or heard from her, that is until my friends started sending me the pictures of her with Michael at movie premiers. Michael's father was a famous actor and it appeared he helped him launch his own career. At the moment he was on some teen drama in the States. I ignored it as much as I could, but every once in awhile someone would send me another story because I apparently _needed_ to know. I was surprised she ended up with a guy like that, he was close with a mutual friend of ours and we met him twice while we were teenagers, but he always seemed really pompous, and for lack of a better word, a huge tool.

I wondered if she knew I was coming. What would I even say to her when I saw her?

"Hey!"

"How's life?"

"What are you doing now?"

"What the hell did I do to get ghosted?"

"Where's the best place to get sushi in the city?"

I probably should have been moreover it than I was, but when you spend 10 years of your life with someone, you don't get over it that easily. I mean, I dated other girls during freshman year, but no one ever stuck for more than 3 months or so. After investing all that time into a person it just didn't seem worth trying again.

At least we would only be at Matt's place for a week before we left, I thought maybe she would just avoid me and we wouldn't have to deal with it at all. I settled into what was going to be a long fifteen hours.

* * *

By the time I landed at JFK I had about 32 conversations in my head with Kari, none of which ended well. I was feeling pathetic, this wasn't how I expected to start my, ' _epic summer of inspiration_.'

No, that's not the name of my book, that would be a shitty name, I'm working on the name though, and it will absolutely be better than that.

Anyway.

I spent most of my life quietly drowning in memories from the past, trapped in the spirals they often created, even before she left. The past few years had only made it worse, but I finally seemed to be managing it better, reading that though sent me right back down.

I knew I was looking rough from the flight so I popped into the bathroom shortly before we started to land. My eyes were bloodshot from the lack of sleep, making their normal sky blue color look too pale to be healthy. I let my hair down, shoulder-length now, after years of letting it go and embracing that I could at least grow hair out of the back of my head. The men in our family were terribly pathetic in the facial hair department, so I took what I could get. I tried to comb it through with my fingers, but I gave up and threw it up onto the top of my head securing it with the elastic I had dug out of my pocket.

As I headed toward the gate I tried to tug at my clothing and pull out some of the wrinkles to look slightly more presentable than I knew I did. My grey cargo shorts managed pretty well but my old camp shirt had seen far better days.

"TK!" I looked up when I heard my name being shouted over the bustling crowd. Any annoyance or anger I had at my brother faded the moment I saw him, he had the biggest grin on his face, and the only thing that stopped him from running over to me was him trying to keep his cool. I could always see through him.

I walked as fast as I could without breaking into a jog and when I got close enough I grabbed him for a tight hug. I was caught off guard as I was embraced from the side.

"T.K., it's so good to see you!" Sora had her arms tightly around me.

We pulled back while taking each other in.

Matt looked mostly the same except his hair was much more kept these days, it used to stick out all over the place with the help of way too much hair gel. Now it was shorter, faded on the sides with the top slicked back. I didn't know who looked like more of a hipster, him or me. He was wearing tight dark blue jeans, a black v-neck tee, and black motorcycle boots.

Sora, on the other hand, had changed a lot, gone was the tomboy I had grown up with. Her auburn hair had grown a little past her shoulders and she had it dyed so it was a little darker at her roots than the tips. She was wearing one of those long one-piece outfits where the pants and top were connected. It was black and she had on a pair of black strappy sandals.

"It's good to see you too Sora." I looked back over to Matt. "I've missed you both way too much." Matt reached over to grab one of my bags as we started to walk away from the Gate.

"Well, we have a whole summer to catch up." He smiled brightly, but after a few seconds, his face fell. "So, um," he started to mumble.

I cut him off. "Yea, I got your e-mail right before takeoff." He looked down and Sora sent him a scolding look.

"You _just_ emailed him before his flight left?" She stopped in the middle of the airport, fuming, a few people bumped into her until Matt grabbed her arm to pull her along.

"Don't be so dramatic, I just didn't want him to freak out."

" _Who's_ being dramatic?" She responded flatly, crossing her arms and glaring in his direction.

I sighed, "It's fine we'll manage. She does know though, right?" I asked.

He remained quiet. This time we both stopped walking and stared at him wide-eyed. "You told Kari I'm going to be in your apartment, _right_?" I said, slightly panicked. I may have been uncomfortable with the situation but I didn't want her blindsided.

"She doesn't know," He was looking away from us and scratching the back of his neck. Sora and I were both about to start berating him but he put up his hands to stop us.

"You don't understand. I couldn't risk her leaving, something more happened with this break up then she's telling me, and I can't have her running back into a possible bad situation because of this. I know what she did, but she's still like family, I know you would have wanted the same thing. She's performing tonight we will go see her then."

Sora nodding in understanding but I was still stuck in the middle of what he said. "What do you mean, bad situation?" I felt myself tense up, it didn't matter what she did to me I would never want her to be hurt in any way.

"I'm not sure, I could be reading it wrong, but I don't think she would have come to me unless she needed a place she truly felt safe, it's just a gut feeling." He shrugged and started walking again. Sora and I shared a look before we followed him out, her eyes were apologetic. At least someone else thought it was as weird as I did.

The air felt good on my skin after being stuck on a plane for most of the day. I closed my eyes as the breeze crossed over us, but I stopped dead in my tracks again once my brain had finally registered what else Matt had said about Kari.

"Wait, what do you mean performing?"

He looked back smirking at me. "You really stayed away from seeing what she was up to, didn't you? You'll see if you _stop stopping_ in the middle of the airport"

"We're outside now." I quipped as I started moving again.

"Whatever."

Same old Matt.

* * *

The alarm blared in my ears for the fourth time that morning, I knew it was time to stop hitting snooze but getting out of bed hadn't been easy lately. I opened my eyes to the unforgiving glare of the midday sun and rolled over to stop my alarm for the final time.

I picked up my phone and noted the half-empty glass of Jack and Coke sitting next to it. When I couldn't sleep, some vices made it easier. Trevor would have suggested a meeting and I would have rolled my eyes as far back into my head as possible, but as I contemplated taking a sip now I thought maybe he would have been right.

I rolled out of bed, grabbed a long sleeve shirt from the floor, and pulled on a pair of leggings. I cracked open the door and peeked out to see if anyone was home, but the apartment was quiet. I headed into the kitchen to try and scrounge up some breakfast but there was already food made for me on the counter. _"We will be out for the day but will see you tonight, break a leg!"_ My face contorted into a rare smile, I didn't do that much anymore. He was so good to me, but I couldn't help but feel a bit more relaxed with everyone gone.

I had known Matt since I was a little kid, our brothers had met at camp and become best friends, or the worst friends, depending on the time of year, or day. They bickered like an old married couple but if something went down, for one, the other would be there in a second. I spent most of my time growing up with Matt's little brother T.K. We were inseparable as kids and dated at the end of our senior year, but then I ran away and ruined all of that.

I left after graduation, ran from my family, friends, and most of all him. It wasn't that I didn't love him, because I did, and more than I've ever loved anyone, but after what happened I knew I needed to leave.

Matt actually found me on campus one day shortly after classes had started. When I saw his face I felt sick, I wasn't ready to face anyone, least of all him. As much as he was like a brother to me I always found him to be slightly intimidating. He was my boyfriend's brother, and I wanted his approval as much as I wanted their mother's approval.

I headed over to him, fully aware that he would probably lose it on me, but he didn't say anything, he just kept leaning against the wall looking out at the other students as they walked to, and from, their classes. I stood there looking at my feet for a long time until he finally took a deep breath and opened his mouth to speak, "Why?" was all he said.

When I looked up at him I saw only concern, "Why are you crying?"

I realized for the first time that I had tears streaming down my face. I wiped them away and muttered, sorry. Then I spilled, I let the words tumble out of my mouth as fast as I could. They were desperate for air, I hadn't told anyone, and it felt like they'd been scratching at my insides, demanding to be released. My mouth felt dry when I was done. My head hurt. I was probably dehydrated from crying.

We stood there after I finished, quiet again, except for the sound of me catching my breath.

"I'll keep your secret," he said to me evenly. There was no if, no stipulation, nothing I needed to do in return. Matt understood running away, even in this instance, and even from his own brother.

When my life was spiraling out of control Matt was the one person I knew would take me in with no questions asked. He didn't make me explain anything. He just showed me to my room and made me a hot meal. Sora wanted answers though, it was harder for her to stay on the outside of any situation. The mother in her wanted to heal, to fix, but she couldn't fix what had happened, no one could. All I could do now was try to start over again hopefully this time it wouldn't be a mistake.


	2. She Used To Be Mine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Digimon   
> I don't own She used to be mind, by Sara Bareilles

_"She's imperfect but she tries_

_She is good but she lies_

_She is hard on herself_

_She is broken and won't ask for help_

_She is messy but she's kind_

_She is lonely most of the time_

_She is all of this mixed up_

_And baked in a beautiful pie_

_She is gone but she used to be mine"_

* * *

I got in around 3 pm so we spent the rest of the day wandering around the city, Matt, literally made me drag two suitcases around all day to avoid Kari at the apartment, he was ridiculous. For some reason, he was convinced it would be better for us if we waited until tonight. Either way, we were blindsiding her. Either way, it was awkward for me.

Once we sat down for lunch I finally got some information out of him. She had studied theater, and music, at a school called HARTT, in Connecticut. I remembered the paper Tai held in his hand the day we realized she was gone, the name of the school photographed perfectly into my brain.

Apparently, she had only been performing at small clubs since she graduated. I was a little surprised that she choose to study musical theater, when we were in high school she had gotten involved in our productions and had been really good, but I didn't realize how serious she was about pursuing it.

I guess there was a lot I didn't know. I always wondered if that was part of why she left, had I been a bad listener, or had she just hidden everything really well. I thought we shared everything, but if that was true she wouldn't have gone.

Maybe, she was scared I would tell her to stay, but if she had a dream I never would have tried to stop her from accomplishing it, we had our whole lives, and I would have waited. At one point I had applied to a school in the U.S. and we said if it happened we would find a way to make it work, but I got more money to stay, so I did, and we never discussed it again.

The last photo I saw of her was from a red carpet event she attended with Michael about 8 months ago. In that photo, she didn't look like the girl I remembered. Kari was one of the most laid back girls I'd ever met. She wasn't a tomboy, but she wasn't overly girly, or fussy with what she wore, and she never needed, or wore very much makeup.

The girl in the photo though was nothing short of glamorous. Her hair had been pulled back and she had dark green makeup around her eyes. She was wearing a short, form-fitting white dress with long flowing sleeves and green high heels. She was stunning but, in that photo, I couldn't picture her being anything like I remembered. Unreachable was the word I would pick, like a movie star you could never dream of touching.

I was nervous to meet that girl. What if she was as different as she looked? Matt wouldn't really comment much about it, and I couldn't really ask if her personality had changed as much as her appearance.

She still had no idea I was here or that I would be coming tonight, and no one knew how she would react. Matt was just hoping she wouldn't run back here, grab her things, and disappear.

Again.

I shared the sentiment. Even though I was uneasy about seeing her I didn't want to send her running either. Matt seemed to think Michael had burned her pretty bad in some way or another, enough that she hadn't called her parents, or Tai, to tell them she was staying with Matt. She had sworn him and Sora to secrecy. I'm surprised Sora hadn't said something yet, she wasn't good at keeping things from her friends, even if they weren't her things to share.

Matt finally let us go to the apartment to drop off my things, once he was sure Kari was gone. I changed into a pair of jeans, by order of Sora, who said my cargo shorts were unacceptable, and Matt gave me an unwrinkled black tee-shirt to throw on. I felt a little sick when we left, I wasn't sure if it was from seeing her or the jetlag but either way it wasn't helping.

We made it to the club around 8:45 pm and she was to go on at 9 pm. The venue was dimly lit, with soft jazz music playing in the background. A small blonde girl greeted us at the door and immediately showed us to our seats. She seemed to know Matt and Sora pretty well, I think her name was Jenny, I'm not really sure. I wasn't mentally there and I kept zoning in and out. I needed something to wake me up or I was going to fall asleep right at our table.

I looked around to get a feel for the place. The club had 12 half-circle booths that lined the back of the room. Between them, and the stage were about 15 circular high top tables. There was a long bar along the left. The bar and the tabletops were made of dark cherry wood, and the booth seats were a deep burgundy color. It had a good vibe, the decor was all very vintage-like it was pulled out of the twenties or thirties.

"T.K.?" Matt was staring at me waiting for an answer.

"I'm sorry what?" I replied, obliviously.

"What should I grab you to drink?" He cocked his brow while eyeing me skeptically.

"Whatever you're getting is fine, thanks." I felt bad, I had been doing that to him all day. I just couldn't stay focused.

Sora went with Matt to the bar and they started chatting with the bartender. They must come to see her perform often, this seemed like a regular place for them. A few others near the bar greeted them and they fell into conversation while waiting for our drinks. I looked up at the stage and saw a tall, curvy girl, with dark curly hair, talking to a skinny, bookish looking guy, who was seated at the piano.

I was surveying the room, trying to find Kari, when Matt and Sora walked back over with our drinks. I hadn't been able to find her and it was starting to fill up. I couldn't search without starting to look pretty obvious. Looking like a creep probably wasn't a good move for me at this point.

They scooted into the other side of the booth and handed me my beverage. I grabbed it and took a large drink, without looking at it, and ended up choking. Matt almost spit out his drink from laughing so hard, as Sora sympathetically patted me on the back.

Once I regained my composure I looked down and noticed the dark amber liquid I had just attempted to consume.

"Is this _straight_ whiskey?" I asked weakly, still trying to recover from the fire burning down my throat.

"Welcome to New York." He said smiling while raising his glass.

Sora gave him a scolding look while offering me a sip of her drink. Whatever she was drinking looked much less intimidating but, also far too girly for me to drink. It was the color of a blue jolly rancher. I politely declined and shook my drink around before setting it back down. I was about to go over to the bar and grab a beer when the girl on stage headed over to the mic.

"Hey everyone! If you would take your seats we will get our show started." She gave a short introduction, of the show the music was from and introduced the piano player before welcoming Kari onto the stage.

The crowd cheered, clapped for her, and there were a few whistles from the bar area. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a slight girl push her chair in at the bar, and finish up a drink, before making her way up to the stage. I was taken aback for a moment. Everything about her was so similar but so strikingly different at the same time.

Her hair was so much longer than I remembered, it was always pulled back in the photos I saw, so I never realized how much it had grown. It was past her shoulders and dyed a little darker brown. She was wearing it straight with her bangs clipped to the side.

She used to tell me, how much she hated the maintenance long hair needed and that was why she kept it short, so it was weird she had grown it out so long.

She looked so slim too. Not unhealthy really, but it was a noticeable difference, even from the last photo I saw. She was wearing a short, black, long sleeve dress that was tight until her hips where it flared out, and hit just above her knees. Her face looked clean of makeup except for her eyes which had dark, smokey, eyeshadow.

Don't get me wrong, she was still beautiful, but when I really saw her eyes, my stomach dropped. I looked into those dark brown eyes for 10 years. I knew something was off, the spark I remembered just wasn't there anymore. They seemed dull, and even though she was smiling, her eyes weren't.

She took a breath, closed her eyes, and when the music started she went somewhere else. I'd seen Matt like this before, all messed up about something right before a show, but the second the music started he became someone else. She was fierce now, powerful, and commanding. She sang with a confidence I didn't remember. In high school, she was good, but shy, and timid, never really trying to stand out. Now, she didn't try to get attention, it was demanded, and you couldn't possibly have eyes on anyone else. The bar erupted in applause when she finished the first song, she smiled a sly smile that told me she knew she nailed it.

During the applause, after the second song, the bartender brought a drink to the stage for her. She drank a generous amount before the piano started playing again. It was exactly what I was holding in my hand, and she just drank it like it was water, so either she drank a lot, or I was one thousand percent lamer than I thought I was.

She set her drink down and nodded to the piano player to start the next song. This one was slower, her mask faded, and I saw those empty eyes again. She started softly, if there had been bar chatter you may have missed the first few lyrics. As the words spilled out of her mouth I felt the honesty she sang with, she felt this song in her bones.

The song was about an abusive relationship, I told myself she was playing a part up there, but her eyes told me she was telling her own story, her truth. Tears fell from her eyes as she belted out the words, the audience was feeling it with her, I saw girls around me getting choked up. Matt and Sora both stiffened up during the song like they were seeing exactly what I was.

She could walk away from me, one hundred more times, and I would never in my life want her to feel an ounce of what she was expressing on that stage.

The crowd lost it when the song ended and people started to stand in the audience. Kari smiled, and wipe the side of her face.

"Thank you, everyone, so much." The crowd hushed for her. "I was so excited to perform these songs for you tonight. This show holds a special place in my heart and seeing it was one of the greatest experiences I've had in this city. I hope I've done it some justice for you tonight." She paused and some people cheered again.

"I have one more for you tonight, but for this one, I'm going to need some help from one of my oldest friends. Some of you already know him, please welcome Matt Ishida!"

I was so focused on her that I didn't even notice Matt was already making his way to the stage. He's such a ham I shouldn't have been surprised. Sora was smirking as she looked over at me and rolled her eyes, which lead me to the conclusion, that she was just as out of the loop as I was. The ladies in the crowd went wild for him, showing me that he had definitely developed a solid fan base here in the city.

When he reached Kari he enveloped her in a hug and I saw him whisper in her ear, her body stiffened for a moment before he let her go. She turned towards our table, squinted, and made eye contact with me. She took a deep, and what appeared to be, shaky breath as the piano started to play. She didn't look angry just slightly uncomfortable, which was better than we had expected so I guess it was a victory.

Matt was looking at her when he started to sing but she was still looking directly at me.

She turned back to him, and after a moment, drifted back into the story. He looked out at Sora every little while but I could tell ladies in the audience thought those stares might be for them. Sora seemed to take the attention the girls gave him pretty well. They had been together so long at this point she knew she had nothing to fear.

Kari looked so comfortable with him on stage, and they had great chemistry. It sent a pang of jealously to my chest, but I buried it, they were practically siblings and their comfort on stage had to come from years of knowing each other.

From what I could see they also clearly had some practice singing together. I was actually surprised that they hadn't been doing more work together, but with the way, I had taken to avoiding, anything, involving her they very well might have.

I thought about how I should have been angry with him for spending time with her. He was _my_ brother and here he was hanging out, and living with, my ex. girlfriend. That wasn't really fair though, considering he had known her just as long as me, and he tended to make the right decision about things like this.

As the song ended people in the crowd stood up, and cheered for them. After they thanked the crowd, they started to make their way back over to the bar. They walked down from the stage, Matt looked over and waved us in their direction.

Sora gave my arm a gentle squeeze. "You ready?"

"As I'll ever be," I put on the biggest fake smile I could muster in the moment. I probably looked terrified, or sick, probably both.

Sora walked ahead of me and gave Kari a big hug. She stiffened at first, but after a moment, she returned her hug with a smile.

"You were amazing tonight Kari that song, before Matt went up, was so, so, good." Sora beamed at her like a mother would to a child.

"Thanks so much. It's my favorite from the show, I'm just glad I didn't butcher it tonight." An uneasy smile grew on her face, as she grabbed her drink off the bar, and finished it quickly. I looked down at my still untouched beverage, and grumbled to myself, about people in the States, and brown liquor.

When I looked up, I saw Kari had turned around and was looking right at me. Her eyes were apologetic and I could only assume I looked super awkward.

Matt and Sora were looking between the two of us, unsure if they should say anything. Neither of us seemed to be able to get up the nerve, but just as Kari looked like she was about to talk, I closed the distance between us and pulled her into my arms.

I'm not sure why that was the first thing I decided to do in this situation, I like to think I blacked out and my body moved on its own, but it was too late to turn back now.

She was completely caught off guard and I could feel her hesitation. I loosened my hold but didn't let go, resting my head on top of hers, that's when I felt her relax, put her arms around my waist and finally hug me back.

I pulled back and looked down at her, speaking softly, "Together again."

"Just like old times," she responded to me with a, less strained, smile.

It wasn't, not even a little, but for right now it was what we both needed and it was enough.


End file.
